Fishing is one of man's oldest activities. He fished initially to obtain additional food, using a natural object, such as a bone or sharp stone, attached to a line of natural material. The bone or sharp stone acted as a "gorge". The gorge became caught in the fish's mouth or throat, and the pre-historic fisherman pulled the fish out of the water.
Then, with the development of metals, one of man's earliest tools was the fish hook. Soon, the practice of fishing with a baited hook attached to a line was improved by attaching the line to a rod, and eventually fishing became a sport in addition to being a means of acquiring food.
Fishing tackle rapidly became more elaborate and adaptable to the particular purpose of the fisherman. Numerous publications from Roman times to the present day, have outlined the progress and development of fishing equipment and methods of fishing. As is well-known and well-advertised, many improvements and innovations have been made in every phase of fishing equipment, rods, lines, hooks, lures, weights or sinkers, reels, and floats or bobbers.
Floats, or buoys, are used primarily to provide a means for suspending a baited hook at a preferred depth in the water and for serving as a signal that a fish has taken the bait.
Prior art which was cited in a patent application for another type of fishing aid invention of ours disclosed various other signalling devices attached to fishing lines. This prior art included a reference to a Spencer Gift Catalogue, U.S. Pat. Nos. 1,410,817 to Lloyd, U.S. Pat. No. 2,163,973 to Benca et al, U.S. Pat. No. 4,147,130 to Goguel, U.S. Pat. No. 4,262,379 to Jankiewicz, and U.S. Pat. No. 4,373,288 to McCrink.